Department of Anthropology, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Food Studies Theme, Ohio University, 1 Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.
Nat Plants. 2017 Jul 5;3(7):17092. doi: 10.1038/nplants.2017.92.
Thousands of years before the maize-based agriculture practiced by many Native American societies in eastern North America at the time of contact with Europeans, there existed a unique crop system only known through archaeological evidence. There are no written or oral records of how these lost crops were cultivated, but several domesticated subspecies have been identified in the archaeological record. Growth experiments and observations of living progenitors of these crops can provide insights into the ancient agricultural system of eastern North America, the role of developmental plasticity in the process of domestication, and the creation and maintenance of diverse landraces under cultivation. In addition, experimental gardens are potent tools for public education, and can also be used to conserve remaining populations of lost crop progenitors and explore the possibility of re-domesticating these species.
在欧洲人接触到的当时，北美东部的许多美洲原住民社会已经实行了基于玉米的农业，但在此之前几千年，就存在着一种独特的作物系统，而这仅能通过考古证据得知。这些已经消失的作物是如何种植的，没有书面或口头的记录，但在考古记录中已经确定了几个已驯化的亚种。对这些作物的活体亲代的生长实验和观察，可以深入了解北美东部的古代农业系统、发育可塑性在驯化过程中的作用，以及在栽培下创造和维持多样的地方品种。此外，实验花园是公众教育的有力工具，也可用于保护消失作物亲代的剩余种群，并探索重新驯化这些物种的可能性。
